Deportee begging for a job - Says he never learned a skill while in the US

Omari Duncan, a deportee, is desperately seeking a job. The 28-year-old was deported to Jamaica on February 19, 2018, from Detroit, Michigan, in the United States, after being convicted on a drug charge.

And although he said he's been doing labourer jobs on construction sites, Duncan said he wants something more permanent.

"I get like a one job here and there. If somebody calls me and says there's construction going on, or I have a one friend that call me and say they're putting in some air-conditioning units, I'll go with them. I don't know how to do certain things, but I catch on real quick," he said.

Duncan said he left Jamaica when he was five years old to live with his mother and older brother in Detroit.

He said that having been away from Jamaica for more than 20 years, getting readjusted to life on the island has been difficult.

"You have nobody. Everybody say they knew you when you was young; now, you're a complete stranger to everyone. You don't have a job, you don't know where your next meal is going to come from. All you can do is try," he said.

EXPOSED TO DRUGS

He said that growing up in Detroit exposed him to drugs, which he eventually started selling.

"I grew up in a system where that's all people that was around me did. When you looking for a job where I was at, they was like, 'You can make US$1,000 a week. Why you want a job that makes US$300 a week?'" he said.

Duncan's drug involvement made him financially stable. And, as a result, he said, he had no reason to invest in a skill.

"I started selling drugs when I was 12, and I was making money. I bought two houses in the US. I never knew how to actually have a skill. I paid my way through school. When I wasn't going to school, I gave the teachers money," he said.

But now, Duncan said, he lives from house to house in Kingston with different relatives, and the situation is less than ideal.

"I'm just looking for a stepping stone to further myself. I just want a regular life, a job, so I can at least rent a place," he said.